SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Jill is Ridden for the First Time
Kaya calls Jill, Beans, which is short for Jillybeans. She has many names. Jill was started under saddle at the Joel Connor Clinic a few weeks ago. Joel had the first couple of rides and then Kaya was also able to ride her. Here’s what Kaya had to say about her: Jill has a hard time following a feel and is very wiggly to ride, most likely because she is young. She is a little herd bound, which…
Barb Started as a Riding Horse
Barb has become Kaya’s favorite horse to work with. She was ridden for the first time at the Joel Connor Clinic a few weeks ago. Then Kaya got on and has been working on riding her ever since. Barb is a very opinionated pony, but seems to enjoy the work. She is really athletic, but needs to work on balance, so that she can show her athleticism. Kaya has recently started working on bridling with…
Pearl is Becoming a Riding Horse
Pearl had her first ride at the Joel Connor clinic a couple of weeks ago! She isn’t bothered by having a person on her back and took to it easily. Here’s what Kaya had to say about her: Pearl has come a long way since being at SAFE, but still has a long way to go before she’s a gentle riding horse. She has a hard time supporting her weight with her hind end. She needs to be able to do this so…
Volunteer of the Month: Meghan Nicholson
How and when did you first get involved with horses? SAFE is actually my first experience with horses! I have loved them my entire life (they’ve been my favorite animal since I can remember), but I never had the opportunity to be around them. When I moved to Seattle back in 2015, I ran into a childhood friend (from NY where we both were from), who was volunteering at SAFE, and she told me all…
2021 Q1 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: January 27, 2021 Checkers (Animal Control Surrender) Minnie (Animal Control Surrender) Quincy (Animal Control Surrender) Doolin (Animal Control Surrender) Intake Date: January 28, 2021 Mac (Animal Control Surrender) Intake Date: January 28, 2021 Kayla (Swap with Thurston Co Hooved Animal Rescue) Intake Date: March 4, 2021 Frosting (Animal Control Surrender) Placed Horses…
Mac is on the Injured List
Sadly, Mac had a bit of an accident yesterday during turn in. He got bothered just outside the barn door, scrambled backwards, and fell onto a ceramic planter. He suffered two sizable lacerations on his left hind gaskin that needed emergency vet care immediately. Luckily Rainland Farm Equine’s Dr. Lewis was quick to arrive to his aid. She was able to clean and suture the top laceration but the…
Razin’s Surgery was a Success!
When Razin was seized by Animal Control along with a group of neglected ponies, he appeared to be a gelding. However, none of the other male ponies seized from that property had been gelded, which made us wonder why the previous owners would have gelded this young little guy and no one else. Being a bit doubtful, we had our vet do a blood test. Lo and behold, the test confirmed that Razin was in…
Sweet Sienna
Sienna is a sensitive horse with a lot of life. She’s a BLM mustang who looks like she has a mix of draft horse in her, so people might think she is lazy, but she’s not at all. Terry, who rides her, has worked hard on getting Sienna to relax and just stand still. In the past, Sienna would canter off if she couldn’t feel you holding her back. On the ground, Sienna is one of our most trusted…
Veronica’s First Dental
Veronica has made fantastic progress in the past few months! She has gone from being a horse who was turned out 24/7 and only worked in her attached round pen to being walked all around the property and even spending a night in a stall. This month she received her very first dental float. She was extremely well behaved for her first vet visit and is now microchipped. She is officially a gentled…
Mac’s Lameness Exam
During a recent veterinary exam, Mac flexed positive in both his right hind fetlock and upper limb. He improved on soft arena ground but the test on hard ground showed pain. To rule out any major issues, we decided to take radiographs of his right fetlock which showed the more significant response on the flexion test. Thankfully, the x‑rays showed nothing significant. The question then remains,…
Jasper’s Surgery
Jasper had a bony growth on the left side of his jaw. It did not seem to bug him or cause him any pain. However, he would repeatedly bump it and break open the skin, so we decided to have the growth removed. We held a fundraiser for a surgery for one of our ponies, Razin, and the community raised more funds than we planned! We used the leftover donations to help pay for Jasper’s surgery. So it…
Flynn is Adopted!
When Flynn’s new family first visited Flynn at SAFE, he walked right over to their daughter, Olivia, and nuzzled her. On their second visit, Olivia and Flynn played Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light. She even made up her own colors for turning and trotting. He was so good with her and didn’t mind anything she did while in the saddle. Olivia then brushed him and put him away in his stall all…
First Ride on Kayla
Here is what Terry recently had to say about Kayla: “Kayla has been a lovely mare to get to know. She came to us with a great foundation and was ready to get to work right away. Our first goal has been to strengthen her for riding since she had a few months off prior to coming to us. Her balance and strength, especially at the canter, does need some work. She is a forward and sensitive mare, so…
Merry in the Round Pen
Here is a video of Terry working with Merry in the round pen at SAFE. Merry is a terrific horse with a sweet personality. It won’t be long before someone takes home this wonderful mare.
Caramel Learning to Trust
Caramel is working on trusting people to handle her hooves. These videos are the result of a ton of patience and relaxed feel with Trisha lifting her hoof. What amazing progress this mare is having with her kind foster mom! No expectations and no timelines. Everything for the horse and what this special mare needs to find trust as a domestic horse. Thank you Trisha for providing the…
Frosting Arrives at SAFE
Witness Frosting’s first moments at SAFE after Animal Control dropped her off. Having Veronica as her neighbor was a highlight for this young mustang who makes sure Veronica knows she is a baby by clacking her teeth.
Alumni Update: Whiskey
We recently got an update from Whiskey’s adopter Marie and she says that Whiskey is doing great! They both travel a lot to the mountains, and even took a trip to Montana. Whiskey is 25 years old now, and is a sneaky lady. She still has a lot of life, running around, bucking and rearing sometimes. Marie says Whiskey is just so perfect and it would be nice to clone her. They both still have lots…
Mac’s First Couple Months
Mac has only been at SAFE for about two months. He is a sensitive boy with sweet eyes. So far, we are working on getting Mac conditioned and building more muscles. He is learning that moving forward is the answer. He braces when he is asked to go back and is head shy at the poll. For this reason we do not think he should be tied up. Mac is very sound and even though he has a little sway back, we…
A New Horse at SAFE: meet Frosting!
Frosting is an 8 month old Mustang filly who was one of four horses seized by Animal Control due to neglect. Having just taken in seven ponies from another county, SAFE was not able to take all four of the horses, so one went to Pony Up and two went to a private rescuer. Frosting, being so young, will likely be with SAFE for a few years, since we prefer to start horses under saddle before…
Whisky and Shortbread are Adopted!
We are so excited that Whisky and Shortbread have found their forever home with Sherry, Rick and their 27 year old Appaloosa mare, Windy. Whisky is very interested in Windy and really wants to be friends. Windy isn’t quite sure about this yet, but Rick and Sherry are sure she will come around eventually. Whisky and Shortbread are getting excellent care at their new home. Sherry and Rick say that…
Caramel is off to Foster
Today was a BIG step in the future success of Caramel. She is headed to a foster home where the views are fantastic and she is surrounded by other horse friends. Trisha, who is now fostering Caramel, adopted one of the Fall City 40 horses, Hazel, last January. She did such a great job gentling her that we are thrilled that Caramel will have the same opportunity to learn. Trisha will be able to…
Veronica Out and About
SAFE’s volunteer, Candi, has been a huge part of Veronica’s gentling process. Her kind and patient feel has been key to the successful haltering of this extremely sensitive and touchy mare. We have slowly gained her trust and she is allowing for basic grooming and picking up her hooves. The first video shows Veronica’s first walk outside of her paddock. As you can see, she was very nervous, but…
Billy Has Come So Far — Foster Video Update
Billy has come so far in the 8 weeks he has been with his foster family. Julie has been hard working hard. Here is a couple videos she sent to us. He is ready for a family to adopt him who can continue the great work he has been getting with SAFE. He is not suitable for kids, is shy at being caught and loves other horses.
Q13 Pet of the Week: Razin
Volunteer of the Month: Josie Weiss
How and when did you first get involved with horses? I owned my first horse when I was six years old — a Pony of America (POA) named Fiesta. That same year, my mom, sister and I moved into a house on a property whose owners boarded horses. I was responsible for helping to care for and exercise the horses. My favorite horse, Little Joe, was a Quarter Horse / Thoroughbred who was definitely not…
Fundraiser for Razin
Razin has been with SAFE for over a month and recently has been diagnosed as a cryptorchid, which means that he needs a more complicated procedure in order for him to be gelded. While a little more invasive than a typical gelding, this procedure will cost SAFE between $2,000-$2,500. Now that we are aware of Razin’s unique situation, we can act. His procedure is scheduled for March 4th and SAFE…
The Three Little Horses
Razin, Sundae, and Breve have been doing wonderfully at SAFE. All three have progressed greatly and are learning what it is like to be loved and to have human friends. Their haltering skills are continuously improving, and they even did well for their first farrier appointment! Breve only got two of the four feet done, but it is a great start. We were impressed with how well Sundae and Razin…
Cyrus Is On The Mend
Cyrus has come such a long way since he first arrived at SAFE, and soon he hopes to be making friends with a few other SAFE geldings. Before he gets the chance to spend the day with the other boys, he is working on recovering from a minor injury he received on January 14, 2021 in his paddock. As he returned to the barn from his day outside, we noticed he had an abrasion high up on his hind left…
Beauty in the Big Arena!
This is Beauty’s second time riding at SAFE outside of the round pen. She is coming down off a feel nicely, learning to soften through one rein stops and building trust with her rider. She can be fairly “gate sour” and she would prefer to be ridden alongside another horse, but she’s learning that emotional support can also come from humans. This older mare has come a long way since arriving at…
Meet Marianna Clair, SAFE’s new Development Director!
We have a brand new SAFE staff member to introduce to everyone: Marianna Clair, who joined SAFE last week as our Development Director. Marianna will be taking over responsibility for fundraising efforts at SAFE, as well as planning and executing events, and developing relationships with our donors. She’s an experienced development professional who has raised funds raised funds at a number of…
